The plant is best known in general for its seeds, which are used as beads and in percussion instruments, but these are toxic due to the presence of Abrin. What is perhaps lesser known is the uses to which the leaves and plant as a whole are put in, for example, Ayurvedic medicine.

The plant is native to India and grows in tropical and subtropical areas of the world where it has been introduced. “It has a tendency to become weedy and invasive where it has been introduced”.